Vietnam Is A Different Place For Car People 15 Years After Top Gear’s Visit

I went to Vietnam, and like any good Western tourist, I didn’t shut up about it for months after. While I was there, I bought a motorbike and rode it around the country, learning several good lessons along the way. I also spotted a great many interesting vehicles while I was there. It’s proof that wherever you find cars, you find a weird car culture lurking around the fringes, too!

The thing about Vietnam is that it’s not the same country as it was when Top Gear visited back in 2008. In fifteen years since, the country has adopted cars with great enthusiasm. Today, it’s estimated there are 55 cars in use per 1,000 people in Vietnam. That figure was as low as 23 cars per 1,000 people in 2018.  Compare that to 908 cars per 1,000 people in the USA. With a population approaching 100 million people, Vietnam is seen as one of the biggest potential growth markets for the automotive industry.

That was readily apparent even to me when I visited in 2023. I’d last been in the country in 2016, and there were a hell of a lot more cars around versus my last visit. Naturally, as an automotive journalist, I couldn’t help but capture a few of the most interesting ones. Stick around to the end, because things get weird and mysterious.

There’s plenty of wealth in Vietnam, it’s just not distributed particularly equally. Buying a car is still cost prohibitive for a lot of people, but those with means are happy to spend their cash on luxury models. The first notable vehicle I spotted was a lightly-modified BMW 535i.

It was a little lower than I’d like given the rough condition of Vietnam’s roads, but it certainly had presence compared to the teeny motorbikes everybody else was getting around on. The owner spotted me taking a photo and I gave him the universal sign of approval between car enthusiasts—a thumbs up. He returned the gesture.

Oddball cars with strange decorations weren’t hard to find, either. In Phan Thiet, I happened across a BAIC Beijing X7 with a black and white vinyl wrap. Most hilarious, though, was the giant “POLIME” sticker. Not sure if they swung at “POLICE” and missed, or if it was an intentional joke. Who’s to say? In any case, Chinese cars are growing thicker on the ground in Vietnam at the moment.

Even cooler was this Toyota Mark II that had been hacked into a custom convertible. It lived by the sand dunes and had a searing pink paint job that even covered the license plates. I’m not sure how the interior had held up that well given that it appeared to be stored outside, but it didn’t even smell slightly moldy! I just wish I’d spotted the owner so I could have asked for a ride.

Small trucks weren’t exactly rare in Vietnam, I’m pretty sure I even saw a couple of Kei-class vehicles. This weird half-van, half-box truck was a bit of an irregularity, however. Perhaps most weird is what looks like some kind of refrigeration unit mounted to the box, even though it’s branded for a tire shop. Cold rubber, I guess?

VinFast naturally had a presence in its country of origin, most notably within VinGroup malls. However, I didn’t actually see a lot of the company’s latest models on the road. The VinFast VF8 was pretty much brand new at this point, so it makes sense that there weren’t a whole lot out there just yet.

Subcompacts were quite popular, too, like the Hyundai i10 and this Kia Disco Very. Not gonna lie, I wish they’d call it that for real.

My favorite find of the trip, though, was this second-generation SsangYong Korando Sport. These things had license-built Mercedes-Benz engines and five-speed manual gearboxes, and I suspect that they were at least passable off-road. More than that though, this one looked badass as hell with its black paint job and chunky tri-spoke wheels. I suspect AMG had nothing to do with it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a capable vehicle. If this model had the 3.2-liter M104 straight-six under the hood, it was packing a good 217 horsepower. Not bad at all.

Likely more off-road capable was this mighty Ford Ranger I found in the middle of Hanoi. This thing was brawny and had a full graphic wrap to boot. I’m not sure whether the owner was an architect or if they just dug the design, but hey. It’s clear they loved their car, and it would have been great for getting around to muddy building sites on Vietnam’s many dirt roads.

It wasn’t that rare to see cheap compact cars with lots of visual customization. This Peugeot 106 was typical of the form, though the iridescent elements were a nice touch. A lot of these cars ended up looking like cheap Chinese toys, covered in fake stickers, but hey, at least they were having fun, right? Just don’t expect to see this one actually appearing on PeugeotMotorsport.com.

I was pretty impressed with the wheel choices of some of Vietnam’s local enthusiasts, though. This Genesis Coupe looked great in yellow, and the deep-dish rims were perfect for the application.

When you’re a foreigner in a new land, you often have big gaps in understanding when it comes to the local culture. It can be difficult to know what you’re looking at, or how it came to be.

I had a moment like this when I happened across a Toyota Crown parked in a nook next to the Vietnamese Women’s Museum in Hanoi. This one caught my eye instantly, and I couldn’t look away. I couldn’t explain why this Toyota was here, and why someone had apparently started working on it in the grounds of a museum.

The car was in a state of some decay. It was covered in dust and clearly hadn’t moved in some time. You’d be able to tell if someone was recently working on it, because there’d be handprints in the dust and maybe some oil or tools on the ground. Instead, the area was remarkably clean. It was like the car had been jacked up and left to sit without any work actually being done.

Again, it seemed very strange to me that you’d choose a museum courtyard to work on your vehicle. Nevertheless, whoever owned this car had gotten away with stashing it there for some time. I don’t speak or read Vietnamese, so I couldn’t decipher much from the paper on the dash, but I did notice a bunch of tools and replacement fluids strewn inside.

This thing was a manual, so it broke my heart even more that it had seemingly been abandoned. By the look of things, someone had intended to do some kind of repair and then simply walked away. The rear left door even appeared to be not quite shut properly, as if someone were intending to come right back.

I’d kill to restore this thing and take it for a drive. Realistically, that’s never going to happen, but I hope someone does. They should leave the patina exactly as it stands, because this is now a car with a history. Clearly, a loved one, too. Someone bothered to rivet the Toyota badge back on when it fell off the trunk lid; most drivers in Vietnam wouldn’t have bothered.

I wouldn’t try attempting to recuse this vehicle unless you had an excellent fixer in Vietnam and a budget on par with The Grand Tour. If you do know anything about this car, or it’s history, though, you gotta let me know. If you’re in Hanoi any time soon, let me know if it’s still there.

Overall, I saw a great many interesting vehicles in Vietnam. There were the ultra-cheap subcompacts, a ton of workaday Toytoas, and your standard high-dollar luxury sedans. Perhaps the main thing I found missing was outright supercars. I suspect, unlike China, the roads and culture in Vietnam would make it exceedingly foolish to try and drive one in the city center. Honestly, I don’t know if you could even get the average Ferrari through Saigon.

It’s always fun to explore a new country and interpret its car culture through a naive lens. Stay tuned for my next installment when I tell the grand story of my own journey across the length of this grand country.

Image credits: Lewin Day